SoCal’s Cold War Kids will make their St. Louis debut tonight at the Pageant as part of a high profile trio of acts. Coachella veterans Eagles of Death Metal will help the Kids open for Scott Weiland, of Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver fame.

The band plays a grungy, bluesy brand of indie rock.

I caught up briefly with Cold War Kids’ bassist Matt Maust recently.

RC: So you’ve never played in St. Louis?

MM: No, never in St. Louis, it’s one of the last cities we haven’t played. We have a good buddy from there though. He drums for Dave Vandervelde.

RC: What is Fullerton like?

MM: We’re not really based there. We were labeled as from there because we spent our first six months there. We live in Long Beach.

RC: What have been your favorite places to play in your travels?

MM: It’s been pretty non-stop. In London we got to play the Astoria where the Stones and Radiohead have played. It’s pretty historic and great venue. Also, going to Iceland was really amazing.

RC: Would you say you have a Southern rock influence?

MM: No. We like blues but our music is more in the spirit of blues, not actual blues. We do tend to have soulful sound as well. It’s a mix of soul and punk. We are influenced by everyone from Nina Simone to Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, the Clash, Joy Division, and all that stuff.

RC: How is your new record different from past efforts?

MM: We used the same engineer so it’s not a huge departure, though our first record was more slick and trebley, and ready for radio. Our new record is a more rounded, warm sound and maybe harder to digest in a good way.

RC: Are many of your lyrics like short stories?

MM: Nathan is a huge reader. He really likes to have every song portray a sort of short story.

The Point presents HO HO SHOW #2 featuring SCOTT WEILAND, COLD WAR KIDS and EAGLES OF DEATH METAL

Show: 8:00 pm, $27.50